Cueto, Prince Norbert Algeru B.

The Teacher and the Community E031

BSEd-En II Dr. Divinia J. Glifonea

Philosophies of Education

TEACHING PROPONENT/S APPLICATION TO

PHILOSOPHY TEACHING
Perennialism Thomas Aquinas (1224 – Perennialism is a subject-
1274) centered philosophy in which
Jacques Martin (1882 – 1973) the educator teaches students
to think rationally. A
perennial classroom is
organized and well-
disciplined, and teachers try
to guide the thought process
of students towards
appreciation of great works
such as literature and science
discoveries.
Positivism Auguste Comte (1789 – Positivism describes an
1857) approach to education that
uses scientific evidence such
as statistics and experiments
to reveal a truth about how a
society functions. It replaces
political and religious ideas
with pure science. The classes
that fall under this approach
could be engineering,
computer science, theoretical
physics, and biology.
Behaviorism John B. Watson (1878 – This teacher-centered system
1958) gives full control to the
educator, who maintains the
classroom environment based
on student’s behavior. Many
people see behaviorism as a
form of classroom
management to maintain
discipline. Teachers use
intrinsic and extrinsic rewards
whenever students perform a
desired behavior.
 Essentialism William Bagley (1934) Essentialism is a teacher-
James D. Koerner (1959) centered philosophy that aims
H.G. Rickover (1959) to teach basic skills.
Paul Copperman (1978) Essentialists believe that there
Theodore Sizer (1985) is a universal pool of
knowledge up for grabs and
the fundamentals of teaching
are the basis of the
curriculum: science, history,
math, and English, etc. This
educational philosophy
advocates training the mind
by focusing on transmitting a
series of difficult topics for
the promotion of students to
the next level.
Progressivism John Dewey Progressivism is a student-
centered form of teaching
philosophy. Here, students
follow the scientific method
of questioning, and teachers
evaluate them by assigning
projects and portfolios.
However, instead of dictating
and controlling the teaching
process, progressivists
facilitate students with what
they need.
Reconstructionism George Counts Reconstructionism is another
Harold Rugg student-centered philosophy
Theodore Brameld that strives to instill a desire
in students to make the world
a better place.
Reconstructionists focus on
controversial world issues
and current events to fuel
their thinking process. These
educators teach students the
value of working together to
bring about change by
incorporating the curriculum
with trending world events.

Conservatism Edmund Burke (1729 – 1797) Conservatism is the belief the

 educational institutions
should function according to
their original purpose. It
devalues any concepts that
have not been maintained
throughout history and should
not be restored or be part of
the curriculum. In terms of
education, Conservatives
believe in traditional exams
and classrooms while
opposing the idea of modern
education methods such as
online learning.
Constructivism Jean Piaget (1896 – 1980) Constructivists believe in
active participation.
Constructivism recognizes
the fact that learners construct
knowledge based on their
beliefs and experiences rather
than passively take in
information. Teachers use
students’ experiences of the
world to help them build their
representations and
incorporate new information.
It’s almost like adding words
to the dictionary or writing a
poem.
Humanism Abraham Maslow Humanism is based on the
idea that students should have
the choice in the learning
process. In this model,
students engage themselves in
all aspects of learning with
the teacher and peers to
develop a curriculum and
evaluation system specifically
for that class.

Unlike most traditional

practices, it considers the
individual interests and
abilities of students to bring
out the best of them. More
importantly, teachers give
students the center-stage
allowing them to plan,
collaborate, and make
decisions together.